Chapter 67 Intrigue
Back at Zuixianju, Chu Yichen and his servant Yuanji would go to the restaurant to inspect the store every day, keeping an eye on the business situation of their own restaurant, and at the same time urging the chefs to research new dishes.
That evening, after the master and servant had dinner in their own restaurant, they took a carriage to Xunfang Pavilion. They had an appointment with several bosses to discuss business.
Because of some business matters, Chu Yichen often had to socialize in these brothels. Hongyu, the top girl in Xunfang Pavilion, was an excellent singer, and Chu Yichen often paid Hongyu to sing for these bosses.
Some deals that are usually difficult to negotiate are always easier to close in such occasions. Accompanying these bosses to watch singing and dancing, drink some wine, and then call a few beautiful women to serve them, you can easily get a lot of business.
When the master and servant finished their work and returned to the Chu Mansion, they saw Qiuhong, the maidservant beside his mother, waiting at the door with an anxious look on her face.
Qiu Hong saw Chu Yichen and Yuan Ji coming out of the carriage, and hurried forward and said, "Young Master, you are finally back. Madam said that the master was very angry tonight, and it seemed to be related to the restaurant business. The master is waiting for you in the front hall now. Madam specifically asked me to wait at the door to tell you in advance so that you can be mentally prepared."
"Are those two mother and son snitching again?"
"Yes, eldest master, Aunt Wang got the news from somewhere that our restaurant's business has been getting worse in recent days. Aunt Wang said that you don't know how to run a restaurant at all, and wants the master to hand over the management power to the second master." Qiuhong looked worried.
"Okay, I see. Mother is also in the front hall, right? Go back to her first, and I'll be there soon."
"Yes, sir, not only the madam is here, but the young lady is here too. I will take my leave now."
After Qiuhong finished speaking, she immediately hurried to the front hall. She had sneaked out to pass on a message to the eldest master, so she had to go back quickly.
Chu Yichen took Yuanji and walked slowly towards the front hall.
The front hall was already full of people. Seeing him come in, Mrs. Chu hurriedly stood up to greet him: "Chen'er, you are finally back. Tell your father what is going on with the restaurant business. I heard that our restaurant's business has been declining sharply these days. Your father is very worried."
"Yes, big brother, Aunt Wang said that it was your poor management that caused the decline in our restaurant's performance. You should quickly tell Dad what happened."
Chu Lan'er is Chu Yichen's full sister. She was very upset when she saw Aunt Wang reporting on her brother.
Chu Yichen greeted his father first. Master Chu looked at him and snorted coldly, saying angrily, "Your aunt and second brother said that you went to Xunfang Pavilion all day long and spent your time drinking and partying, and didn't put your mind on running the restaurant at all. I didn't believe it at first, but now you come back drunk, it seems that you are probably back from Xunfang Pavilion again."
"Dad, I went to Xunfang Pavilion to deal with some friends with whom I have business dealings. I made an appointment with a few bosses to discuss business today." Chu Yichen explained.
After hearing his explanation, Master Chu's expression eased a little, and he continued to ask, "What's going on with the restaurant? I've asked Lao Zhou to send someone to take a look at the restaurant bill. Our restaurant's business these days is really terrible."
"Dad, the restaurant business is not good. It's not that I didn't manage it well. It's because a new auspicious restaurant opened opposite our restaurant. Not only our Qingxi County restaurant was affected, but also several other branches."
"Auspicious Restaurant? What's its origin?"
"It was opened by the Ma family, a wealthy businessman from Qingxi County. They not only opened a restaurant in Qingxi County, but also opened branches in several other counties. Moreover, each of their stores was chosen to be next to our restaurant, as if they were deliberately making things difficult for our restaurant."
"So it's the Ma family, no wonder." Mr. Chu suddenly realized.
"Dad, is there any grudge between us and the Ma family?"
Mr. Chu looked a little unhappy, as if he had something to hide. He hesitated and said, "Yes, there were some conflicts, but they were just minor ones."
He said angrily again: "I didn't expect that Mr. Ma would be so petty. He would go to so much trouble to open a restaurant to steal our business for such a small matter. If I had known this, I would not have fought with him in the first place."
Aunt Wang saw this and said in a coquettish voice, "Master, how can you be blamed for this? Others are trying to steal our business, so are you just going to let them do it? Our Zuixianju is an old shop that has been open for decades. I won't talk about new customers, but we have accumulated a lot of old customers. The eldest master didn't even think of a way to retain the old customers in his shop."
Aunt Wang appeared to be defending Mr. Chu, but her words and actions were actually putting the blame on Chu Yichen.
Chu Lan'er got angry when she heard this. She looked at Aunt Wang unhappily and said, "Aunt Wang, you are blaming my eldest brother for the poor business of the restaurant, right?"
"Miss, what I said was the truth. After all, it turns out that the eldest master is not good at management."
"What qualifications do you have to blame my elder brother? Everything you eat, drink, wear and live in is earned by my elder brother through hard work. If it weren't for my elder brother who supported such a huge family business, would you still be able to enjoy such a good life in peace and stability?"
"Miss, we didn't let the eldest son support the family business alone. Our Yifan has always wanted to help his elder brother share the responsibility of housekeeping. This huge family business is occupied by the eldest son alone. If he is willing to let his younger brother manage it together, and the two brothers work together, how can outsiders take advantage of it?"
Aunt Wang was very angry when she talked about this. It was obvious that the eldest son was monopolizing the family business and did not allow her son to interfere.
"Hmph, if your dandy son were to manage the family business, the Chu family might have been squandered by him long ago." Chu Lan'er said with disdain.
"Master, please let our Yifan manage the restaurant business. He will definitely not let a newly opened shop take away his business. Yifan, don't you think so?" Aunt Wang quickly winked at her son.
"Yes, Dad, why don't you hand over the management of the restaurant to me? I promise to take our business back." Chu Yifan said to his father solemnly.
"Hmph, I'm letting you manage it. You're just talking nonsense. How can I not know your capabilities? Tell me how you can take back the business?"
Mr. Chu was actually a wise man. He knew exactly what his illegitimate son was like. If his illegitimate son was a capable person, he would not put all the burden on his legitimate son.
"I'll find a group of people to smash up their Jixiang Restaurant and put them out of business. That way, we can all get our business back, right?" Chu Yifan thought he had come up with a good idea.
"Is this your idea? You will just have to pay for the losses and go to jail after you smash it. Do you think the Ma family is vegetarian? You are such a pig-brained person. You only know how to eat and drink all day long. If the family business was handed over to you, you would have ruined it long ago. How could it have survived until now? Get back to your room right now. I'm getting angry just by looking at you."
Mr. Chu was so angry that he cursed his incompetent second son.
When Chu Yifan saw that his father was angry, he ran away in shame.